The Cruelty of the Place We Call Home
by Knight of Rogues
Summary: In memory of my friend who died of cancer last night. Freezerburn and Ladybug. Not the tragedy fanfic I was talking about.


Weiss Schnee was a proud teen girl, surprisingly so for her age. At 18, she wielded immense power, commanding a line of wealth and fame due to her family name. She had enrolled in the most prestigious of battle academies, passing the entrance exam with flying colors due to her training experience with some of the finest coaches in the world.

With a single word, men would flock to carry out her orders. With a well-placed glance, anyone would instantly submit to her will. This was the true power of a Schnee. To have complete control of all those around you.

So why did she feel so powerless?

She was in Vale's children's hospital, in the waiting area. The doctors had permitted her to stay at the hospital, along with Blake and Ruby. Most of these situations were parents who would allow their children to stay overnight at a strange hospital, which was perfectly understandable but not permissible. However, this situation was far graver.

Yang Xiao Long was dying.

The heiress looked over at Blake and Ruby. The ladybug couple were huddled together, Blake rubbing the crimsonette's back as the younger girl whimpered pitifully. Weiss' heart was stabbed with a sharp pain at the young girl's pain, knowing that this was incredibly hard for her. It was hard for all of them.

As the snow-haired girl leaned her head back against the wall, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander to the months long before.

-oo00oo-

"And that was when Ruby and I swooped in and took out the King Taijitu and saved Patch!"

"It was only a garden snake, Yang, no need to exaggerate." Ruby muttered with a grin. The nearby blonde flushed a light red.

"It was totally a grim."  
"Yes, I'm sure you two managed to take out a giant two-headed snake at ages 8 and 10."

"Shut it, Ice Princess." Yang growled at the heiress in question with a playful twinkle in her eyes. Weiss crossed her arms with a haughty smirk.

"Make me."

The brawler stood up, startling Weiss at the quickness of the motion. A fist cocked back, but just as it was about to connect to her face, she felt a familiar pair of lips against her own. Rolling her eyes, she pushed back against the kiss, blocking out the exaggerated gagging sounds from her girlfriend's little sister. Finally, the pair broke apart.

"Not bad. Your lung capacity's going up." Yang commented with a wiggle of her eyebrows. "Wanna see how far we can push it later tonight?"

"Now now, you two." Blake interjected with a chuckle. "Keep it PG, we still have a minor here."

"I'm 16! I know what they're talking about, it's not like I'm immature enough to call it gross or anything." Ruby complained with a set of puppy dog eyes. Her older sister grinned and leaned in, whispering in a voice just loud enough for Blake and Weiss to hear.

"Blake in a towel."

The crimson that shot onto Ruby's face rivalled that of her prized cloak. Yang let out a raucous laughter at the sight of her sister refusing to look at Blake, who was starting to blush as well, while Weiss simply rolled her eyes and playfully slapped her girlfriend on the back.

The result seemed instantaneous. The girl doubled over sharply, clutching her neck as if she was trying to strangle herself. The heiress' heart dropped as she steadied the brawler.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just some heartburn. I'm used to it." Yang gasped. After a few minutes, she was relaxed again. The snow-white girl sighed.

"Did you remember your pills?"

"_Yes, mom._" She groaned. "I remembered to take the appropriate dose, too." Weiss flicked the blonde off before hugging her tightly.

"I worry because I care. The doctors said that they'd make you better, so I'm going to make sure that they do just that."

"I know." Yang sighed. "I just wish that they'd work by now."

"They will, just be patient." The heiress hushed. Yang nodded and planted another kiss on her girlfriend before returning to teasing her sister. Good old Yang.

-oo00oo-

Weeks passed. Classes continued to rack up lessons, and studying became even more important than usual to Weiss. It was often in these times that people knew not to disturb the concentrated heiress. Of course, there was one person who never could take a hint.

"Weiss, we need to talk." A familiar voice. Sighing, Weiss slammed her book shut, earning a sharp hiss of 'Quiet!' from some of the other students.

"What is it?"

"Not here." The brawler's lavender eyes flicked around. "Come to the dorm."

Usually, Weiss would be used to something like this, especially when Yang was concerned. If she didn't love her as much as she did…

"Alright, alright. I'll be there soon, just let me grab my books." She huffed. With a thankful nod, the tall blonde teen dashed out of the library. Yang's energy never ceased to amaze Weiss, and where she kept the boundless amounts of it was a mystery to all.

Ten minutes later, the snow-haired teen was entering her team's dorm when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw her girlfriend, face covered by her blonde locks.

"Yang? I know you're a hugger, but-"

"What I'm going to tell you is really important." She interrupted. Her quivering tone startled Weiss, as it was incredibly different from the brawler's usual happy-go-lucky attitude in life.

"O-Okay. Why don't we sit down?" She suggested after a minute. The blonde nodded in agreement, and pulled her over to her bed. The silence between them was thick enough to cut with a knife.

"So… what's wrong?"

"I went to the doctors today. For my physical exam."

"Did they tell you to stop drinking Red Bull?" The heiress joked. Yang gave no response, which only scared Weiss more.

"They… they didn't tell me anything. All they said was I needed to go to a certain doctor in Vale, and say that it was a Stage 1, whatever that means!" The room started to go cold, and that scared Weiss most of all. The blonde gave off a natural heat that could rival that of a roaring fire in the thick of it, and it usually showed the most when she was happy, angry, carefree, etcetera. The complete lack of it was something she had only experienced on a few scattered occasions. Occasions where Yang was terrified beyond belief.

"It could be nothing." Weiss offered. "Maybe they just want to double check something. Semblances always have a chance of messing with tests, so maybe yours just requires someone with certain expertise to look at."

"And if not?"

"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it." The heiress hushed. Yang's breathing had slowed from the quickness it had been starting to become, and Weiss hoped she had quelled her girlfriend's fears. As she sighed in relief, however, she felt those strong arms wrap themselves around her in a fearful hug.

"Will you go with me? To the doctor?"

"Of course." She kissed Yang gently, glad to hear a slight sigh of relief from the girl.

"I don't want to leave you. Or Ruby, or Blake, or JNPR, or Beacon, or anything. I want to stay where I am, happy and badass."

"There's no way of telling you won't. You hear me?" Yang's lilac eyes flicked up and locked themselves with Weiss' ice-blue ones. The moment wore on before she finally gave a small smile and a half-nod.

"I hear you."

"Good. Don't worry. When we get to that doctor, whoever it is will simply take one look at you and say 'You're good to go!'" Weiss shouted, her heart warming at the sight of the growing grin that mirrored her own.

"Alrighty!" The brawler scooped her up in her arms. "And hey! We can bring Blake and Ruby with us too!"

"Of course!"

The couple talked about the prospective team outing to the hospital in the city for a good while before deciding to find where the other two romantic partners of RWBY were. As they wandered the halls, Weiss watched her girlfriend offering tuna and cookies to the girls, and couldn't help but smile. She had successfully helped Yang over her fears, and now the blonde was her normal, carefree self.

She laughed. How could illness dare to affect someone so full of light?

-oo00oo-

"Yang's still not out." Ruby commented, flipping through the weapons magazine she had found in the hospital waiting room. Blake, who was propped against her girlfriend's side and looking through the pages with her, nodded in agreement.

"True, for a routine checkup, this shouldn't be taking this long."

"She's fine!" Weiss sighed in an exasperated tone. "Honest!" Her voice faltered, however, betraying how worried she really was in the whole situation. Ruby patted her shoulder in a sympathetic gesture.

"I'm sure she is. She's probably refusing to let the doctors stick a needle in her." The joking tone she used made Weiss calm down a little. A little.

"I just wish that they'd hurry up a bit. Beacon's food is best when fresh." She sighed, attempting to cover up her obvious anxiousness.

"And tonight is tuna melt night." Blake commented, her stomach letting out a quiet rumble that caused her to blush slightly.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Weiss Schnee?" A nurse called out from the waiting room entrance. The heiress-in-question stood up, and the woman signaled the teen over.

"Miss Xiao Long requested to see you. It's… urgent." She said in a hushed tone that made Weiss' heart sink through her chest. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Ruby and Blake usher her off quickly. Nodding, the huntress-in-training followed the woman through the cold hallways that smelled of ammonia and sterilization.

They stopped in front of an examination room, and Weiss could hear the muffled voice of her girlfriend inside.

"Just in here, miss. There's a doctor in there as well."

"Thank you." Weiss gave a polite smile. The nurse turned and left, and Weiss opened the door.

Yang was sitting on an examination bed, the doctor that had examined her nearby. She turned to see the heiress' worried expression.

"Miss Schnee. Please, take a seat. I have something I need to explain to the two of you."

-oo00oo-

"Miss Schnee?" A voice drew the girl out of her thoughts, and she saw a young doctor in front of her.

"Yes?"

"Miss Xiao Long just woke up. She's weak, but she requested specifically to see you and your friends." He paused a moment before quietly adding, "Her vitals aren't looking good. I suggest you three see her as soon as possible."

Weiss painfully nodded, and told him to wait a moment before walking over to Blake and Ruby. She crouched in front of them, and they glanced up.

"Yang asked to see us. She just woke up." Ruby shot up as soon as the words had left her teammates mouth, dragging Blake with her.

"Let's go. Now." She stated simply, and the heiress nodded. A moment later, and they were following the doctor through the hospital, deja vu of the initial check-up hitting Weiss harder than a freight train. They stopped in front of a single hospital room, and he left them standing there to take care of other people and patients.

"Well… we should go in." Blake stated, her cat ears twitching slightly. Ruby nodded shakily, hugging her girlfriend and nodding for Weiss to open the door. Gingerly, as if handling a bomb, the heiress did just that, and they entered, instantly greeted by the steady beeping of a nearby monitor.

"Hey guys." A voice said shakily from the other end of the room. They turned, and there they saw Yang Xiao Long in all her glory.

Her long, golden locks of hair had long since been shaved off for countless treatments, and was currently wrapped up in bandages by her request. She looked weak and pale, causing her lilac eyes to stand out all the more. Though she looked on death's door, she still was wearing her signature daredevil grin. It was the most heartbreaking thing that they had ever seen: A mighty huntress cut down to rock bottom.

"How're you feeling? Are they treating you well?" Ruby whispered, walking over and grabbing her sister's hand. The older of the two laughed.

"About as well as you could expect, though I don't recommend the food."

"And the doctors?"

"Don't worry, kitty, they're doing what they can." The faunus couldn't help but smile through the tears that were now welling up in her eyes.

"I told you that I hate that nickname."

"You can't get rid of it that easily." Yang joked before noticing Weiss standing at the foot of the bed. With a soft smile, she beckoned the girl over with her free hand. Weiss walked over, grasping her hand firmly.

"Hey Ice Princess."

"Hey."

"Sorry about making you guys wait." She shrugged. "I've just been sleeping a lot as of late."

"Dolt." She sighed, wrapping her arms gently around her girlfriend's shoulders. Blake and Ruby watched respectfully as the couple embraced, for they knew all too well that this could be the last chance they had to do so.

"Hey, don't cry on me, you three. I'm still here." Yang said with as much life as she could muster, but it was to no avail. It just made them pity her more.

"What did the doctors say to you?" Ruby asked quietly.

"I threatened to burn down the building, so they told me the truth." The leader's sister sighed. "I never would've thought tonight could be it, but that's what they're saying." The crimsonette's hand shot to her mouth, and Weiss stiffened.

"But… but it's so soon." She said, her voice hitching in her throat. Yang nodded, her own eyes starting to get teary.

"My mentality still stands. I don't want to leave you guys behind."

"Then don't!" The youngest of the group shouted. "Please! Stay with us!" Yang's eyes turned and looked her sister up and down as she gripped her hand tightly. She smiled and winked.

"You've really grown. You look just like Summer." Those words were what broke Ruby down, and she began to cry, bent over the side of Yang's bed as her body was wracked with sobs. The ill girl gently rubbed the leader's back, soothing her sobs with the humming of a lullaby that came to mind.

"What exactly do you have, anyway?" Blake asked.

"Breast cancer. I knew my knockers would get me into trouble someday." She chuckled. "Never thought that trouble would be this."

After a few moments, Ruby had fallen asleep from the emotional draining and physical exhaustion of the days before. Blake gently carried her out of the room, whispering a soft 'goodbye' to Yang before leaving her and Weiss in the room alone.

"Tonight's really it?"

"Tonight's really it." Yang sighed, deflated. "I can be as cheery as I want, but this is it." The words seemed simple in themselves, but send shivers right down to the heiress' core. She had wanted to stay calm. Composed. A Schnee to the end. However, as she watched the broken young woman before her, her girlfriend, teammate, and classmate, she couldn't help it. She began to cry.

It shocked her at first. Her father would have shuddered to see her and know that she was his child, but dammit, she wasn't in his household anymore. She was her own person, and she would feel what she wanted to feel.

She didn't think it was going to hurt this badly.

The couple sat on the hospital bed together, whispering words of comfort to each other until Yang finally went to sleep. The doctors gave her two hours tops. However, even in sleep, her hand grasped Weiss' tightly as the monitor's steady beat slowed down. Through this contact, the heiress fell asleep beside her.

She never felt the hand's grasp loosen as the monitor flatlined, letting out a merciless, continuous beep.

**At 2 AM on January 30th, 2015, my old friend Josh passed away due to a losing struggle with cancer. I promised a tragedy fic, and this is not it. This was something I decided to write in memoriam. Josh will be missed.**


End file.
